Char Broil Urban Gas Grill Review – Infrared grill for $ 300 or a marketing gimmick?

Char Broil’s ‘Urban’ infrared grills have been a revelation and have enjoyed tremendous popularity, especially among younger homeowners. After years of Weber’s dominance, Char Broil has finally hit a home run and is seeking first place in the small grill market with the ‘Urban’ grill.

Char Broil Urban Gas Grill – Infrared, Meet Flame

Infrared grills are the standard bearers in the world of barbecues. With temperatures exceeding 1600 degrees, your standard charcoal or gas grill is like a candle to the torch on an infrared grill. Infrared grills are used primarily in restaurants because the high temperature allows chefs to grill meats to perfection in a matter of minutes. Additionally, infrared grills can be wildly expensive, often costing 2-3 more than a gas or charcoal grill.

Char Broil’s Urban grill is advertised as ‘infrared’ gas grills. What’s going on here? How can an infrared grill be billed as a gas grill and vice versa? Is this a marketing gimmick, intended solely to lull gullible shoppers off with the “infrared” label?

Yes and no.

There is no way Char Broil can incorporate true infrared technology into a grill that starts at $ 300. Therefore, Char Broil developed a unique technology that combines infrared radiation with traditional open flame heat. Hence the combination of ‘infrared’ and ‘gas’ in its nickname.

To achieve this, Urban grills use a thin sheet of perforated steel. Heat, both through infrared radiation and traditional open flame, passes through the perforations and cooks the food. Technically, it is infrared. Actually, it is not.

How?

Infrared not true

Before you can give an answer to the question above, you must first understand how infrared (IR) grills actually work. ‘Infrared’ literally means ‘under red’. Infrared is electromagnetic radiation that is just below the spectrum of red light (hence “below red”). It has a longer wavelength than visible light and therefore cannot be seen with the naked eye. Infrared radiation is a normal part of the spectrum of light and is largely responsible for its heat capacity. Almost 49% of the sun’s heat is transmitted in the infrared range of visible light.

If that scientific gibberish got your head spinning, all you need to know is that infrared radiation can heat up incredibly quickly. A true infrared grill can reach temperatures above 1200 degrees in seconds.

This grill, however, uses a weaker variant of infrared radiation called “medium wave” infrared. This is much weaker in intensity than true IR. In fact, on Char Broil Urban gas grills, most of the cooking is done using the open (convectional) flame itself. The infrared simply works as an afterthought, meant to make the grill more appealing to the lay buyer.

So yeah, Char Broil Urban gas grills use infrared as a marketing gimmick. It is not a true infrared and as such does not add anything in particular to the performance of the grill. In fact, the design can deteriorate performance over time, as food debris clogs the perforations in the steel sheet.

Solid performer nonetheless

Despite the aforementioned flaws, Char Broil Urban grills are still a solid performer offering a decent amount of heat with ample cooking space (320 square inches along with 125 square inches of additional cooking area) in a compact design. . I have recommended this grill in the past, and will go the extra mile and recommend it again. Yes, you use IR as a marketing strategy, but barbecue makers have been guilty of much worse. In the end, the Char Broil Urban Gas Grill is a compact, well-rounded grill that is perfect for younger buyers. However, seasoned experts would want to look elsewhere.

Key stats

Cooking area: 445 m2 inches (320 + 125)
Burners: 2
Heat output: 20,000 BTU / hr.
Price: $ 299